Feds slap former Acclarent execs with fraud charges
April 13, 2015 by Brad Perriello
Federal prosecutors last week leveled conspiracy and fraud charges against 2 former executives of Acclarent for an alleged off-label marketing scheme for the Relieva Stratus microflow spacer.
Former Acclarent CEO William Facteau and ex-sales vice president Patrick Fabian are accused of seeking to “quickly develop and market products to create a projected revenue stream that would make Acclarent an attractive target for either an initial public offering or acquisition,” according to the U.S. Justice Dept. Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Ethicon paid $785 million for Acclarent back in 2010. Read more
Zimmer extends deadline for $13B Biomet deal
April 14, 2015 by Brad Perriello
Zimmer said that it’s extending the “outside date” for its merger with crosstown rival Biomet by 3 months as it waits for the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to approve the $13.34 billion deal.
Zimmer said it’s pushing the deadline for the deal back from April 24 to July 23, citing a provision in the agreement with Biomet allowing a 90-day extension if anti-trust clearances aren’t in hand. Read more
Big data: IBM enlists Medtronic, J&J, Apple in major healthcare push
April 14, 2015 by Brad Perriello
International Business Machine unveiled a massive push into healthcare built on its Watson supercomputer, inking deals with Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson and Apple and acquiring assets for its data cloud.
IBM said its Boston-based Watson Health business is building a “Watson Health Cloud,” a “HIPAA-enabled” platform for “physicians, researchers, insurers and companies focused on health and wellness solutions.” The deals with Medtronic, J&J and Apple are aimed at optimizing medical and mobile devices for data collection, analysis and feedback, IBM said. Read more
